Stealth Lobbyist Disclosure Act of 2004 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to treat as a tax-exempt political organization for purposes of the disclosure and other requirements applicable to such organizations (with certain modifications) any coalition or association that is identified as a client on any registration filed under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 and that is not a political organization.
Requires any such coalition or association to notify the Secretary of the Treasury of: (1) its existence within 72 hours after one of its lobbyists makes an initial contact; and (2) any change in membership within 72 hours. Requires such notice to include a general description of the business or activities of each member of the coalition or association and the amount reasonably expected to be contributed by each member toward coalition or association activities of influencing legislation. Imposes a penalty tax for failure to give required notices.
Exempts from the disclosure requirements imposed by this Act: (1) public charities and other tax-exempt organizations which have substantial exempt activities other than lobbying; and (2) members of a coalition or association who contribute less than $2,000 per year for lobbying activities.
[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4938 Introduced in House (IH)]
108th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4938
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to require disclosure of
lobbying activities by certain organizations.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 22, 2004
Mr. Doggett (for himself, Mr. Allen, Mr. Baird, Mr. Becerra, Mr. Bell,
Mrs. Capps, Mr. Cardin, Ms. Carson of Indiana, Mr. Case, Mr. Davis of
Illinois, Mr. DeFazio, Mr. Delahunt, Ms. DeLauro, Mr. Edwards, Mr.
Evans, Mr. Farr, Mr. Filner, Mr. Frank of Massachusetts, Mr. Frost, Mr.
Gonzalez, Mr. Green of Texas, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Hastings of Florida,
Mr. Hoeffel, Mr. Holt, Mr. Inslee, Mr. Jefferson, Mrs. Jones of Ohio,
Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Kucinich, Ms. Lee, Mr. Levin, Mr. Lewis of Georgia,
Mrs. Maloney, Mr. Markey, Mr. Matsui, Mrs. McCarthy of New York, Ms.
McCarthy of Missouri, Mr. McDermott, Mr. McGovern, Mr. McNulty, Mr.
George Miller of California, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Neal of
Massachusetts, Mr. Pomeroy, Mr. Rodriguez, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. Ryan
of Ohio, Mr. Sanders, Ms. Schakowsky, Ms. Slaughter, Ms. Solis, Mr.
Stark, Mr. Tanner, Mr. Tierney, Mr. Udall of New Mexico, Mr. Waxman,
and Ms. Woolsey) introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Ways and Means
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to require disclosure of
lobbying activities by certain organizations.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Stealth Lobbyist Disclosure Act of
2004''.
SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF LOBBYING ACTIVITIES BY CERTAIN ORGANIZATIONS.
(a) In General.--Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
(relating to political organizations) is amended by adding at the end
the following new subsection:
``(m) Disclosure of Certain Lobbying Activities.--
``(1) In general.--In the case of a coalition or
association that is identified as a client on any registration
filed under section 4 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995
and that is not a political organization (determined without
regard to this paragraph)--
``(A) such coalition or association shall be
treated for purposes of this title as a separate entity
which is a political organization, and
``(B) this section shall be applied to such
coalition or association with the following
modifications:
``(i) The function of conducting lobbying
activities (as defined in section 3(7) of the
Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995) shall be
treated as its exempt function.
``(ii) The specific deduction under
subsection (c)(2)(A) shall not be allowed.
``(iii) Subparagraphs (C) and (D) of
subsection (c)(3) shall not apply.
``(iv) The disclosure requirements of
paragraph (2) shall apply in lieu of the
requirements of subsections (i) and (j).
For purposes of subparagraph (B)(i), lobbying activities shall
not include any activity described in subparagraph (C), (D), or
(E) of section 4911(d)(2).
``(2) Disclosure requirements.--
``(A) Establishment.--A coalition or association
which is treated under paragraph (1) as a political
organization shall notify the Secretary, electronically
and in writing, of its existence. Such notice shall be
transmitted not later than 72 hours after a lobbyist
first makes a lobbying contact (or, if earlier, is
employed or retained to make a lobbying contact) on
behalf of such coalition or association. For purposes
of the preceding sentence, the terms `lobbyist' and
`lobbying contact' have the respective meanings given
to such terms by section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure
Act of 1995.
``(B) Change in membership.--A coalition or
association which is required to provide a notice to
the Secretary under paragraph (1) shall also notify the
Secretary, electronically and in writing, of any change
in its membership since its prior required notice under
this paragraph. Such notice shall be transmitted not
later than 72 hours after the date of the membership
change.
``(3) Contents of notice.--
``(A) Initial notice.--Each notice required under
paragraph (2)(A) shall include information regarding--
``(i) the name, address, business telephone
number, and principal place of business of each
of the members of the coalition or association,
``(ii) a general description of the
business or activities of each of such members,
and
``(iii) the amount reasonably expected to
be contributed by each of such members toward
the activities of the coalition or association
of influencing legislation.
``(B) Notice of membership change.--Each notice
required under paragraph (2)(B) shall include--
``(i) if the notice relates to a new member
of the coalition or association, the
information described in subparagraph (A) with
respect to such new member, and
``(ii) if the notice relates to the
cessation of a person's membership, the name of
such person.
``(4) Effect of failure.--
``(A) In general.--In the case of--
``(i) a failure to give the notice required
under paragraph (2) at the time and in the
manner prescribed therefor, or
``(ii) a failure to include any of the
information required to be included in such
notice or to show the correct information,
there shall be paid by the coalition or association an
amount equal to the rate of tax specified in subsection
(b)(1) multiplied by the amount involved.
``(B) Amount involved.--For purposes of
subparagraph (A), the amount involved with respect to
any failure is--
``(i) in the case of a failure to file the
notice under paragraph (2)(A) at the time and
in the manner prescribed therefor, the amount
which is reasonably expected to be paid by the coalition or association
or its members to the person filing the registration statement, and
``(ii) in the case of a failure to include
any of the information required to be included
in such notice, or to show the correct
information, with respect to any member, the
amount reasonably expected to be contributed by
such member toward the activities of the
coalition or association of influencing
legislation.
``(C) Joint and several liability.--All members of
the coalition or association shall be jointly and
severally liable under this paragraph for any failure.
``(D) Procedures for assessment and collection of
penalty.--For purposes of subtitle F, the penalty
imposed by this paragraph shall be assessed and
collected in the same manner as penalties imposed by
section 6652(c).
``(5) Exception for certain tax-exempt associations.--This
subsection shall not apply to any association--
``(A) which is described in section 501(c)(3) and
exempt from tax under section 501(a), or
``(B)(i) which is described in any other paragraph
of section 501(c) and exempt from tax under section
501(a), and
``(ii) which has substantial exempt activities
other than lobbying with respect to the specific issue
for which it engaged the person filing the registration
statement under section 4 of the Lobbying Disclosure
Act of 1995.
The preceding sentence shall not apply to any association
formed or availed of to avoid the purposes of this subsection.
``(6) Exception from disclosure for certain members.--
``(A) In general.--Information on a member of a
coalition or association need not be included in any
notice under paragraph (3) if the amount referred to in
paragraph (3)(A)(iii) with respect to such member is
less than $2,000 per year.
``(B) Expenditures in excess of expected amount.--
If--
``(i) information on a member of a
coalition or association is not included in any
notice by reason of subparagraph (A), and
``(ii) the amount contributed by such
member toward the activities of the coalition
or association of influencing legislation
exceeds $2,200 per year,
such member shall be treated for purposes of this
subsection as a new member of such coalition or
association as of the earliest date that clause (ii) is
met.
``(7) Look-thru rules.--In the case of a coalition or
association which is treated as a political organization under
paragraph (1)--
``(A) such coalition or association shall be
treated as employing or retaining other persons to
conduct lobbying activities for purposes of determining
whether any individual member thereof is treated as a
political organization under paragraph (1), and
``(B) information on such coalition or association
need not be included in any notice under paragraph (2)
of the coalition or association with respect to which
it is treated as a political organization under
paragraph (1).''.
(b) Public Disclosure of Notices.--
(1) In general.--Paragraph (1) of section 527(k) of such
Code is amended by inserting ``or (m)(2)'' after ``(i)(1)''.
(2) Access.--Paragaraph (2) of section 527(k) of such Code
is amended by inserting after subparagraph (G) the following
new subparagraph:
``(H) The organizations which file a notice under
subsection (m).''.
(c) Effective Date.--
(1) In general.--The amendments made by this section shall
apply to--
(A) coalitions and associations listed on
registration statements filed under section 4 of the
Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and
(B) coalitions and associations for whom any
lobbying contact is made after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
(2) Special rule.--In the case of any coalition or
association to which the amendments made by this Act apply by
reason of paragraph (1)(B), the time to file the notice under
section 527(k)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as
added by this section, shall be 30 days after the date of the
enactment of this section.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
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